Pennsylvania's USF contribution rate will increase to 2.69% of monthly intrastate revenue from 2.53%, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission unanimously decided Thursday. The Pennsylvania USF administrator suggests reexamining the state USF mechanism due to the contribution base’s “continuous decline” and a reduction in annual reporter revenue, said the order in docket M-00001337. The PUC approved an advance NPRM in August to amend state USF rules, with a first round of comments due Feb. 9 (see 2308240072). Not all carriers report their intrastate VoIP revenue as they should, said the PUC, directing all carriers to do so for state USF purposes.
Arizona commissioners questioned state USF accountability as they unanimously declined Tuesday to raise contribution rates. During a livestreamed meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 against staff’s proposed decision to raise state USF charges for 2024 (docket RT-00000H-97-0137). In addition, members unanimously granted a Verizon application to discontinue MCIMetro basic local exchange services to residential and small business customers throughout its service territory on Dec. 31 (docket T-03574A-23-0243).
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission plans to vote Jan. 18 on state USF and Lifeline rule changes and Feb. 8 on other telecom rule changes, said notices of proposed rulemaking released Friday. Commissioners voted 3-0 Thursday (see 2311300057) to issue the notices on proposed revisions to Chapter 55 rules for telecom services (docket RM2023-000017), Chapter 56 rules for interexchange telecom service resellers (RM2023-000018), Chapter 57 rules for operator service providers telecom services (RM2023-000019) and Chapter 59 rules for Oklahoma USF and Lifeline (RM2023-000021). Written comments in the USF and Lifeline docket are due Jan. 9 and the commission will hold technical conferences Dec. 14 and Jan. 11. The commission sought written comments for all three other dockets by Jan. 15 and set technical conferences for Jan. 4 and Jan. 25.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission voted 3-0 at a Thursday meeting to post NPRMs on amending four telecom chapters of commission rules. The notices, which weren’t available immediately, will open proceedings on revising Chapter 55 rules for telecom services (docket RM2023-000017), Chapter 56 rules for interexchange telecom service resellers (RM2023-000018), Chapter 57 rules for operator service providers telecom services (RM2023-000019) and Chapter 59 rules for Oklahoma USF and Lifeline (RM2023-000021).
Noting a lack of objections to proposed tweaks to South Carolina USF rules, the state’s Office of Regulatory Staff urged the Public Service Commission on Tuesday to grant its petition in docket 2023-301-C. ORS asked to clarify certain USF procedures, including by specifically listing interconnected VoIP providers as USF contributors, incorporating a South Carolina confidentiality law and adding a deadline for contributors to dispute required contributions (see 2309280010). In the same petition, ORS seeks a waiver of USF guidelines so it can provide a refund to Cox subsidiary Palmetto Net for overreporting assessable revenue in a 2022 worksheet, which resulted in an overpayment.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission unanimously adopted state USF and telecom service quality orders Tuesday. The PSC will use the FCC's broadband data collection (BDC) as the replacement for Form 477 data that the state commission previously used to determine broadband availability in each census block, said the Nebraska USF order in docket NUSF-139. Previously, some rural telcos raised concerns about relying on BDC data for NUSF high-cost distributions (see 2310020062). The PSC understands "concerns that, as a newer data source, the BDC data and challenge process may still need corrections," but it expects that many past issues were corrected in the Nov. 17 broadband fabric update, it said. The PSC will provide its own challenge mechanism to "allow carriers to correct any missing broadband serviceable locations or correct any other misidentified information appearing in the FCC’s updated broadband availability data,” it said. Relying on the FCC challenge process wouldn’t be as quick, it said. The PSC decided to retain a 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds benchmark for determining which census blocks are eligible for broadband deployment support in 2024. However, the agency noted it still considers speeds between 25/3Mbps and 100/20 Mbps as underserved, and that NUSF support recipients must provide at least 100/100 Mbps. Also, the PSC adopted a payment structure for NUSF broadband buildout support that aligns with its National Broadband Bridge Program and Capital Projects Fund programs. Commissioners also agreed 5-0 to adopt a service quality order requiring price cap carriers Lumen, Windstream and Frontier Communications to refresh the record by Jan. 5 on repair and replacement timelines, dispatch procedures and how many technicians they have on staff (docket C-5303). The companies’ previous answers to those questions -- first asked in an August 2021 order -- failed to alleviate the PSC’s concerns, and the commission keeps getting consumer complaints, it said. The PSC scheduled a hearing on the matter for Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m. CST.
The FCC granted petitions on review from Bloomingdale Telephone and State Telephone regarding incorrect USF high-cost program annual filings, according to an order released Tuesday in docket 10-90. The FCC also granted a similar petition filed jointly by Bloomingdale and ComSouth. The companies failed to timely file their annual reports in 2019 through the High-Cost Universal Broadband portal, the order said. State also made an incorrect filing in 2018. The order directed the Universal Service Administrative Co. to restore support levels consistent with each petition addressed.
Industry groups expressed caution regarding any adoption of a new support mechanism and fiber mandates for the FCC's high-cost USF programs, according to a reply comment posted Wednesday in docket 10-90 (see 2310240062). Don't require the provision of standalone voice service as a prerequisite for funding, said the Wireless ISP Association. "There is no longer a need to require high-cost recipients to offer standalone voice service," the group said. WISPA also urged tech neutrality and not to mandate fiber connections. "The commission has never required the use of fiber ... or precluded the use of technologies for its high-cost programs, and it should not do so here," WISPA said. The FCC's enhanced alternative connect America cost model should "be based on forward-looking technology and should not require certain technologies that will unnecessarily raise the cost to taxpayers," it added. The record doesn't support the adoption of a new support mechanism for operational expenses, said Incompas, adding no clear path forward has been provided to establish any new support mechanism. The group said there isn't enough time to adopt a new mechanism before states begin soliciting applications for NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program. The FCC should instead "evaluate the continued need of each USF program in order to evaluate the future of the USF most effectively and how it relates to the billions of dollars coming from federal and state funding," Incompas said.
Smith Bagley Inc. (SBi), which serves tribal lands in the Four Corners region of the U.S., called for a tribal 5G Fund of at least $2.5 billion. Reply comments as the FCC considers a proposed 5G Fund (see 2310240046) were due Tuesday in docket 20-32. Other comments urged the FCC to move forward on a fund.
The Texas Public Utility Commission plans to vote Nov. 30 on a sweeping update to Texas Chapter 26 substantive telecommunications rules, the PUC said Tuesday. Industry sought several edits in comments last month (see 2310300036). A modified staff proposal in docket 54589 would agree with Windstream and the Texas Telephone Association about national broadband map information that a provider must submit to show continued need for Texas USF support. The PUC would agree with their recommendation that the map cited must have been in effect for at least 90 days before the application was filed, so as to avoid the time crunch of having to use the FCC’s November map update for an application due by year-end. The commission would reject Verizon’s suggestion to eliminate a requirement that companies show they comply with commission rules before administratively granting name change requests. And it would disagree with Verizon that the PUC lacks authority to regulate telecom carriers’ stock sales, mergers and acquisitions. The PUC would agree with Verizon’s recommendation to clarify that a deregulated company with a certificate of authority, or an exempt carrier, isn't required to provide information for discontinuing optional services.